Local authority on Friday banned the entry of heavy vehicles on the BP Highway; five days after the Supreme Court (SC) issued an interim order to this effect.

A single bench of SC Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla on Monday had issued the interim order directing the government to bar heavy vehicles from operating on the highway.

Enforcing the apex court order was deferred because of the delay in receiving the official letter, police said.

The order was issued in response to a writ petition against the government’s decision on May 27 to allow vehicles with maximum 32 seats and lorries carrying cargo weighing up to 16.2 tonnes on the 158km highway. The Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Management Raghubir Mahaseth had permitted heavy vehicles to use the highway.

BP Highway is the shortest route that connects the Kathmandu Valley with the Tarai region. The highway passes through the Sunkoshi river whose banks have several crusher industries. On an average, more than 2,000 vehicles, including cargo lorries and buses, use the highway daily. Officials implemented the SC order today.

District Traffic Police Office Assistant Inspector Rameshwor Pandey said, “Officers sent back over 400 heavy vehicles (public transport and cargo lorries) from Hirapani in Kamalmai Muncipality-4 on Friday. They shifted passengers travelling in heavy public transport vehicles to

vehicles that met the highway criteria.”